Residents are invited to gather peacefully outside the U.S. Consulate in Florence on Saturday, June 6 from 7:30 to 8:30 pm to protest the tragic death of George Floyd and the countless other people who have died from unnecessary race-based violence by police. Promoted by the U.S. community in Florence, participants will stand and kneel in silence for the duration of the hour and join a call for systematic change, social and economic [...]

For the first time, International Nurses Day will be celebrated exclusively online through social media and web platforms, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. May 12, 2020 will mark not just the annual celebration of the efforts of nurses from all around the world, but also the 200-year anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale; the influential woman dubbed the ‘mother of modern nursing’ and ‘the lady with the lamp.’ The celebrations will [...]

On May 1, Labor Day, Italians commemorate the labor union movement and its social and economic achievements during a nationwide public holiday. Beginning on this day, which currently falls during the Coronavirus health emergency, an ordinance signed by Tuscan governor Enrico Rossi will allow residents to exercise outdoors, take walks and bike rides within the limits of the town or city where they live (parks become accessible again starting May 4) all the [...]

The traditional Florentine New Year has been always celebrated on the date of the feast of the Annunciation, March 25. Following time-honored custom, from the years 1250 to 1750, Florentines would gather on that date in piazza Santissima Annunziata. They welcomed the arrival of spring as well as commemorating the anniversary of the Annunciation, or the conversation between Gabriel and Mary when the angel shared with Mary the news of her divine pregnancy, [...]

Mon. 17: CALCIO STORICO HISTORICAL GAME RE-ENACTMENT. Piazza Santa Croce. Historical parade leave the Palagio di Parte Guelfa at 2:30 pm; blessing in the Basilica of Santa Croce at 2:45 pm; match at 3 pm. Florence will once again commemorate the historic 1530 Calcio Storico match played in defiance of the siege posed by Charles V of Spain with a reenactment featuring the “Vecchie Glorie” in the same venue, offering a spectacle of men, [...]

Florence is one of the many locations of the Women’s March, which will be held on the fourth anniversary of the first event. United by concurrent Women’s Marches throughout the world and the common hash tag #WomenRising2020, all are invited to gather in Florence’s Piazza San Lorenzo on January 18 from 2:30 – 5 pm to voice their respect for women who have a right to live a life free of violence. Participants [...]

The Zeffirelli Foundation will host a special viewing of the documentary Florence: Days of Destruction to commemorate the 53nd anniversary of the flood that devastated Florence in 1966. The event will take place at the Complex of San Firenze (Piazza di S. Firenze, 5), on November 23 at 4 pm. The cost is €10, with an archive tour to follow and aperitivo in the Zeffirelli Tea Room. The 49-minute film is a testament [...]

Sept. 22: FLORENCE’S EUROPEAN DAY OF JEWISH CULTURE: DREAMS, A LADDER TO HEAVEN. 11 am onwards. Synagogue, via Farini 6, Florence. Florence’s European Day of Jewish Culture, with free admission, includes events that will allow visitors to learn more about the history and the modern life of the Jewish community, the importance of dreams and how national traditions are organically integrated into modernity. Of course, guests won’t want to miss a chance to [...]

July 24, 25, 26, and 27: FLORENCE FOLKS FESTIVAL. Manifattura Tabacchi Firenze, Via delle Cascine, 33-35. Free entrance. Florence Folks Festival attempts to unite music with people, culture, literature, and the energy of the city. What better location than the Manifattura Tabacchi — once an abandoned warehouse, and now a hip and spacious venue for the arts, surrounded by the vegetation of the Cascine Park. On July 24, Davide Toffolo, author of comic [...]